Sausage with Kale Mashed Potatoes

I made a recipe that I found in the April issue of Rachael Ray’s magazine for dinner tonight. It was called Sausages with Kale Mashed Potatoes. I changed the recipe slightly in order for me to make just enough for Paula and I to enjoy. It was quite tasty. The original recipe called for using Italian sausage but I grilled a chicken sausage for Paula since that was her preference. Overall, it was an easy and relatively inexpensive meal. If you like mashed potatoes, you might want to give it a try. The leek and kale really boosted the flavor.

Here is what you will need:

2 (or more) Italian or chicken-and-apple sausages

2 pounds of russet potatoes, peeled and diced

4 cups of chopped, trimmed kale

1 large leek, trimmed and chopped

1 tablespoon of fresh thyme, chopped

4 tablespoons of butter

1 1/4 cups of milk

Turn on your grill to medium. Cook the sausages until they are done. (Note: If you don’t have a grill, you can cook them in a baking dish. Just set the oven to 400° and cook the sausages in a baking dish until they are browned, about 25 minutes.)

Place the potatoes in bowl with 3/4 cup water, cover and microwave on high, until tender, about 12 minutes. Drain. In large skillet with a lid, cook the kale, leek and thyme in butter over medium until tender, 2 minutes. Add the milk. Cover and bring to a simmer. Add the potatoes and then mash and season. (Note: I just boiled the potatoes in a Dutch oven and then mashed them with the milk. Once they were mashed, I added the leek and kale mixture.)

Serve the potatoes on plates and top with the sausages. Like I said, this is relatively easy to prepare…and quite tasty as well.